5/20/2011

Max's story featured on New York Times website

We know we owe a long-overdue update. This isn't that update :)

I had a loooooong update almost ready to be set free on the Internet, when the blog company that Max's Cancer is hosted by - Blogger (owned by Google) - had some difficulties. I (along with tens of millions of others) lost a total redesign of the blog plus the latest update that I was working on. Needless to say, I'm taking a break and am waiting for Blogger to stabilize, as well as see if restore the work that I had saved last week.

Things are good for our family - we're very busy with Touch A Truck. In the middle of all the work that she does for Touch A Truck, Melissa found some time to tell Max's story for a Patient Voices feature on childhood cancer. Max's cute mug was up on the home page of the NYTimes and their health section for most of the day yesterday. Hopefully, the six powerful stories in this series will help the person unaware of the unique challenges and needs of childhood cancer become more aware, and ultimately, care.




We got the opportunity to participate in the Patient Voices feature from earlier involvement with the NYT on their Life After Cancer photo series, which featured a photo of Hannah and Nic along with one of our two "stand ins" for Max in family photos: Max's stuffed Bruce the Shark. The photo (below) was used in a British magazine in March, and is going to be used in an American Cancer Society photo book to be published later this year. This is all part of our continuing effort to keep Max's story out in the public as we have done so since he was diagnosed. It's a tradeoff - you and your kid's privacy versus awareness. I'm not sure which path Max would have chosen if he were in charge, but it continues to feel like the right thing to do. Until if feels otherwise, we'll continue.